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Grant to fund council's eco training

Joseph Malan
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Save the Dunes Council has received another grant that will provide training for students in natural resource management.

The grant, given through the Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal Program, is for $67,500, which Save the Dunes Council will match.

Tom Anderson, Save the Dunes Council executive director, said the program will be geared toward students 16 to 24.

"It fits the profile of people that do outdoor restoration work," he said.

The pre-proposal states students will graduate from the program with a "low to moderate level of expertise" in natural resource management.

Student training will involve several different areas, including invasive species identification and control, plant identification, installation of restoration materials such as seed and erosion control materials, mapping vegetation communities and plant propagation.

One goal, Anderson said, is to promote "green collar" jobs - "blue collar jobs that have a green focus," he said.

Some of the training will be done at Barker House, 444 Barker Road, while other training may be done at the Trail Creek Fen just east of Johnson Road south of East U.S. 20.

Partners of the project include Michigan City Area Schools, Michigan City Sanitary District and La Porte County Soil & Water Conservation District.

Anderson said he hopes to get the project started by early July.